


Twice the Price, Twice the Cost

by Rasalahuge



Series: Concepts Series [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Twins, Belle and Lacey are identical twins, Casual Sex, F/M, Falling In Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-12
Updated: 2013-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-04 11:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rasalahuge/pseuds/Rasalahuge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twins for the Concepts Series.<br/><em>At first he didn’t really care… He had two pretty and identical maids to serve him and to torment. Which one was which hardly mattered.</em> A study of differences. Lacey, Belle and Rumplestiltskin in the Dark Castle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twice the Price, Twice the Cost

**Author's Note:**

> I know a few Belle and Lacey as twins stories have been posted recently because I saw them and thought, drat someone beat me to it. I'm going to say now I haven't read any of them because they all seem to be twincest which I'm just not really into. So any similarities are coincidental. I'm sure they're good though so if you're interested go and read them.

_**“My price is… them”**_

 

 

At first he didn’t really care. Of course with magic he could have identified which was which in a heartbeat but that wasn’t the point. He just didn’t care; he had two pretty and identical maids to serve him and to torment. Which one was which hardly mattered.

_“I’m so sorry it’s chipped… You can hardly see it,”_  
 _“It’s just a cup… Where’s your sister?”_  
 _“Lacey’s in the kitchen, preparing dinner,”_

But then it would take him actively ignoring them in order to stop himself seeing the differences. He unconsciously started to catalogue them. Belle was the clumsy one but she was definitely the better cook. Lacey was less inclined to stop working to read a book but she was also the one that swiped from his wine stores when she thought he wasn’t looking.

_“Here,”_  
 _“Thank you, now maybe I’ll be able to get some sleep,”_  
 _“It isn’t for you dearie, it’s to stifle the weeping,”_  
 _“You know I’d probably weep less if you let me stay with Lacey!”_  
 _“Not happening dearie,”_

Lacey was bold and fiery and reminded him a little of Cora, but she was also afraid of him. She was drawn to his darkness but would flinch more from him. Belle was quieter, more watchful and more careful, but while she clearly disapproved of what he did he got the impression she wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest.

_“I’ll need a clean apron,”_  
 _“Of course,”_  
 _“Where’s your sister?”_  
 _“Lacey doesn’t do well with blood, I sent her to clean the armour in the west wing corridor,”_  
 _“Good,”_

Lacey was the sneaky one, she could hatch a plan and had the guts to do it, but it was Belle that decided when the sisters would intervene. Belle was the one with the heart of untarnished gold, who saw the best in everyone. Lacey was the one that commiserated with him when Belle was being too ridiculous.

_“So what do I get?”_  
 _“Excuse me?”_  
 _“Come on, I know you’re not stupid. The library is for Belle because as much as I like books I’m happy without them. So what do I get?”_  
 _“Well it’s not going to be free access to my wine cellars,”_  
 _“Damn,”_  
 _“Do you like to ride?”_  
 _“Yes?”_  
 _“Come with me then,”_

Both Lacey and Belle were adventurous, they were stifled by the society and rank they were born into. But while Belle was obedient and found quiet ways to bring adventure into her life Lacey rebelled loudly. Lacey was the one who would take what she wanted. And what she wanted was often the last thing she should want.

_“You look a little flushed dearie,”_  
 _“I’ve been riding,”_  
 _“I noticed you tearing across the grounds, you’re not going to lame my horses are you?”_  
 _“I know what I’m doing,”_  
 _“Do you now?”_  
 _“I could show you if you like?”_

Despite the differences though Belle and Lacey were definitely sisters. They were loyal to one another above all else, they didn’t share secrets if only because there was nothing that they could keep a secret from their other half. Belle knew that when Lacey drank just a little too much, or when she was high on adrenaline from riding, she sought their master out for things no noblewoman would seek before marriage. Lacey knew that, behind those quiet smiles and laughs, Belle was falling hard for the man who hid beneath the monster’s mask.

_“I can’t do this again,”_  
 _“Can’t you?”_  
 _“Stop that I’m trying to be serious,”_  
 _“By all means dearie, I’m all ears,”_  
 _“This, it’s hurting my sister, and I won’t have it,”_  
 _“Your sister?”_  
 _“Belle,”_  
 _“You mean you’re not Belle?”_  
 _“Beast. You know full well how to tell us apart. Doing this with you hurts her, so I’m going to stop,”_  
 _“As you wish dearie,”_

Where one sister went the other followed. Always. They might start out doing separate chores around the castle but within an hour they would be side by side, sharing secret smiles and having conversations without saying a word. It was disconcerting. It was why their master noticed when Lacey started to leave all the chores in his great hall to Belle, especially when he was there. He didn’t know why and Lacey wouldn’t say, she’d just disappear off to the kitchen or the scullery or down to the stables and leave him alone with Belle.

_“It was an arranged marriage; I’m the elder of the two of us you see,”_  
 _“Obviously,”_  
 _“Gaston he… For me love is complicated, love is a mystery to be solved. I could never give my heart to someone so superficial… Besides he kept looking at me and Lacey as if he’d happily take the both of us to bed at once,”_  
 _“Such words from a noblewoman!”_  
 _“Lacey said it would be fun but I very much doubt it’s a good foundation to build a marriage on,”_  
 _“I suppose your sister had opinions about that as well,”_  
 _“Lacey has opinions on everything… But you were going to tell me about your son,”_  
 _“Tell you what. I’ll make a deal with you. Go to town and buy some more straw, when you come back I’ll share my tale,”_  
 _“You trust us to come back?”_  
 _“No I expect I’ll never see you again,”_

Soon even if he wanted to he couldn’t get them mixed up. Soon though Lacey called to the dark parts of him he found himself be drawn closer and closer to Belle. Belle who smiled and laughed and saw in him something he didn’t know still existed. He would never admit he was relieved when Lacey stopped coming to him because more and more it felt like a betrayal. Belle made him want to be better, for her.

_“She’ll be back,”_  
 _“Lacey? You… didn’t go with her?”_  
 _“She’s only going to town for straw. There are lots of jobs to do around here,”_  
 _“So she’ll come back for you,”_  
 _“Don’t look so disappointed,”_  
 _“I am not!”_  
 _“If you really think she’ll be coming back for me then you are an idiot… Nice flower by the way!”_

That wasn’t to say that he didn’t like Lacey. Quite the opposite actually. Somehow the firecracker had wormed her way under his skin. She talked to him as though they were friends, she mocked and teased him, she stole from his wine cellars and then brought the bottle right to him and shared it with him. Lacey took some form of dark delight from some of his stories, even if the sight of blood made her ill. Lacey, somehow, had become some sort of pseudo-sister to him and he didn’t know how that had happened either.

_“Belle! What’s going on?”_  
 _“You, you’re in on this as well aren’t you?”_  
 _“What?”_  
 _“Distracting me so I wouldn’t notice your friend stopping by!”_  
 _“What friend? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”_  
 _“Stop it you’re hurting her!”_

In the end though, Belle and Lacey were alike in more than just appearance. They were alike in their anger, in their indignation and in their pain. Belle condemned him with words, cutting words that knew just where to strike. Lacey condemned him with actions. She slapped him straight across the face then slammed her knee between his legs and stalked out, her allegiance to her sister made absolutely clear. And then they were gone and he was alone. Alone with nothing but memories, an empty heart and a chipped cup.

_“I had nothing to do with that tragedy,”_  
 _“What tragedy?”_  
 _“You don’t know? Well when they got home their fiancé had disappeared and after their association with you no one would want them of course. Their father shunned them, shut them out and cut them off,”_  
 _“So they need… a home?”_  
 _“He was cruel to them. He had clerics come and cleanse them with fire and scourges. In the end they jumped off the tower, together mind, hand in hand. They died,”_  
 _“You’re lying,”_  
 _“Am I?”_  
 _“We’re done,”_  
 _“Fine. I have other calls to make… Place is looking a little dusty Rumple. You should get a new girl,”_


End file.
